Looking at the Taimar and the S3, it’s difficult to believe that more than a decade separates them – or that they book-end the glorious white 350i that’s thundering around our temporary paddock at the Bruntingthorpe track.

The Race Retro Show was a great opportunity for the fans to see some serious rally cars in action...

We like the Race Retro Show. It's held at a great venue, and has a nice mix of static displays and live action to keep everyone amused. In the halls there was a nice selection of competition cars - and although there was still competition from the exotica on display, it looks like BMC's humble Mini was the star of the show, thanks to its extensive stand celebrating 50 years in production.

As well as all that, there were some unusual cars being put through their paces on the rally stage – not least the Aston Martin V8, which wowed the crowds. Although there aren't any numbers in yet, from a subjective viewpoint, it looks like visitor numbers were very healthy indeed, with the autojumble crowd, particularly, reporting that they were doing good business.